General Mills Inc. (NYSE:GIS) lost ground Wednesday, after missing earnings targets in its latest quarter.
The Minneapolis-based cereal maker announced that operating profit increased 10%; constant-currency adjusted operating profit¹ increased 7%.
Diluted earnings per share (EPS) totaled $0.85, up 31% from the prior year; adjusted diluted EPS of $0.79 increased 13% in constant currency
Net sales declined 2% to $4.0 billion. Organic net sales were down 1%, reflecting lower organic volume, partially offset by positive organic net price realization and mix across all operating segments.
Net earnings attributable to General Mills totaled $521 million, up 33% a year ago, primarily reflecting higher operating profit, a lower effective tax rate, and lower net interest expense.
Diluted EPS of $0.85 increased 31% from the prior year.
CEO Jeff Harmening remarked, "Our first-quarter net sales performance included encouraging improvement in North America Retail and strong growth in Pet, driven by good innovation and effective brand-building investment. We got off to a slower start in our other segments, and we’re taking actions to drive topline improvement for those segments and the company starting in the second quarter.
"On the bottom line, we delivered profit and earnings growth ahead of our expectations while continuing to invest in our brands and capabilities. We remain on track to deliver our fiscal 2020 goals, including accelerating our organic sales growth, maintaining our strong margins, and reducing our leverage.”
Shares fell back 90 cents, or 1.6%, to $54.13
